The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a foam formation device and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a foam formation device for forming foam suitable for intrabody medical treatment.
Foam is a mixture of a gas (e.g., air, carbon dioxide) and a liquid. Foam has medical applications, for example, a foam sclerosant drug (i.e., made from liquid sclerosant) is used to close off unwanted blood vessels, for example, to treat varicose veins (refluxing saphenous vein), reticular varicosities, telangiectasia, and/or other vessel malformations.
In some cases, the foam form is used instead of the liquid drug. For example, in a blood vessel, foam is diluted less in the blood, and foam provides better contact with the surface wall. Also, the presence of gas in the foam allows for ultrasound imaging of the foam in the blood vessel. Overall, foam is believed to be safer than the liquid counterpart.
EckMann D M, “Polidocanol for endovenous microfoam sclerosant therapy”, Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2009 December; 18(12):1919-27. discloses “foamed sclerosants are typically produced by cyclical mechanical agitation of the liquid agent in the presence of a gas to generate the froth used for intravascular injection. Commonly this is simply achieved by hand using room air as the gas and rapid, manual displacement of the mixture between two syringes joined by a stopcock or between a syringe and a drug vial to manufacture the foam.” In order to use the manual practices described, the operator is required to manually assemble the set-up to produce the foam. Producing the foam is time consuming, and may also require extensive physical effort. The production of the foam is performed in an unregulated manner, producing foam with unknown, or uncertain properties.